Photoshop Essentials.com - Tutorials and training for Adobe Photoshop.
Where everyone can learn Photoshop!

Photo Editing and Retouching Tutorials

How To Replace The Sky In A Photo With Photoshop

In this Photo Retouch tutorial, learn how to easily replace the original sky in a photo with the sky from a different image using a simple selection, a layer mask, and the power of Photoshop’s Advanced Blending sliders!

Boost Color Contrast With A Black And White Adjustment In Photoshop

It may be called a Black & White image adjustment, but don’t let the name fool you. In this Photo Retouch tutorial, we learn how to combine it with one of Photoshop’s layer blend modes to easily control the brightness and contrast of different areas in a full color photo!

How To Lighten And Brighten Eyes In Photoshop

In this Photoshop tutorial, learn a fast and easy way to lighten and brighten someone’s eyes in a photo using nothing more than a simple adjustment layer, a layer blend mode and a brush!

An Easy Way To Find Neutral Gray In A Photo With Photoshop

When color correcting photos in Photoshop, it’s pretty easy to find the brightest and darkest areas in the image. But what about those midtones? Is there an easy way to find neutral gray without simply guessing? There sure is, and it’s one of Photoshop’s often overlooked blend modes that makes all the ‘difference’!

Straighten And Crop Images In Photoshop CS5

It took a long time, but with Photoshop CS5, Adobe has finally made straightening crooked images simple, fast and intuitive! In fact, as we learn in this tutorial, Photoshop CS5’s new Straighten feature now lets us straighten and crop images with a single click!

Photoshop CS5 New Features – Content Aware Healing

In this first look at one of the brand new features in Photoshop CS5, we check out the upgraded Spot Healing Brush with its new Content Aware Healing option and how an already great photo retouching tool just got a whole lot better!

Reducing Noise In Images With Photoshop

Whenever we shoot in low light, use high ISO settings or leave the dSLR at home because the compact camera is easier to carry, we often end up with noise in our images. Fortunately, Photoshop’s Reduce Noise filter can reduce its appearance without sacrificing image detail!

Photoshop Color Replacement Tool Tutorial

Photoshop’s Color Replacement Tool makes it easy to change the color of an object in an image without a lot of fuss or hassle. In this tutorial, we look at how it works (and why it sometimes doesn’t), the options that control how it works, and why learning about the Color Replacement Tool may seem like déjà vu!

Photoshop Background Eraser Tool

Learn all about the Background Eraser Tool in Photoshop and how to use it to easily remove unwanted background areas in your photos!

Photoshop Black and White Conversions – Channel Mixer

Learn how to mix the RGB (Red, Green and Blue) color channels together using a Channel Mixer adjustment to create custom black and white images! Part seven in our complete series of Photoshop black and white conversions tutorials.

Photoshop Black and White Conversions – Color Channels Tutorial

This is the sixth tutorial in our series on Photoshop black and white conversions. In this tutorial, learn how we can select an individual color channel from the Channels palette to use as the black and white version of our image, then how to quickly improve the tone and contrast of the image with a simple Levels adjustment!

Photoshop Black and White Conversions – Gradient Map Tutorial

In this third in our series of black and white conversions in Photoshop, learn how to quickly convert a color photo to black and white in Photoshop using a Gradient Map, which replaces the original colors in the image with black, white and all the shades of gray in between!

Converting Color Photos To Black And White In Photoshop

In this series of tutorials, learn the many ways of converting color photos to black and white in Photoshop. With few exceptions, the tools and techniques we cover here have been around in Photoshop for years and are available to anyone using any recent (and even not-so-recent) version of Photoshop!

Dual View Photo Editing In Photoshop

If it’s true that two heads are better than one, it’s also true that two views of the same image are better than one, especially when it comes to photo editing. Learn how to keep a constant eye on your overall image in Photoshop no matter how far you’ve zoomed in with this dual view editing technique!

Perspective Correction In Photoshop – Repairing Keystoning

Tired of the buildings in your photos looking like they’re leaning backwards? That’s a common perspective problem known as keystoning, but Photoshop’s powerful Lens Correction filter, first introduced in Photoshop CS2, makes it easy to fix! We can even take care of a few other potential image problems along the way, all with the same filter!

New And Improved Curves In Photoshop CS3

The Curves image adjustment is widely considered to be the most powerful and versatile photo editing tool in the entire program. While the basics of Curves may not have changed in Photoshop CS3, the Curves dialog box has received a major upgrade with new features and some welcome improvements!

Comparing The Levels And Curves Adjustments In Photoshop

Photoshop’s Curves adjustment can seem less like an image editing tool and more like something from a science lab, but in this tutorial, we compare it with the Levels adjustment to see just how simple Curves really is, and why Curves goes far beyond anything you could hope for with Levels!

Bringing Out Shadow And Highlight Detail In An Image With Photoshop

The Shadow/Highlight adjustment is one of the most popular and useful image editing tools in all of Photoshop thanks to its amazing ability to bring out hidden detail in the shadows and highlights of a photo. In this tutorial, we tap in to the real power of the Shadow/Highlight command by exploring its advanced options!

Improving Image Tone With Levels In Photoshop

The first step in a good photo editing workflow is to correct any overall tonal problems in the image, brightening highlights, darkening shadows and adjusting the midtones. Photoshop’s Levels adjustment not only makes tonal correction fast and easy, it’s what the pros use for accurate, professional quality results!

Better Brightness And Contrast In Photoshop

Over the years, many unsuspecting photographers and photo retouchers have destroyed their images with the Brightness/Contrast command. Thankfully, those days are over! The improved Brightness/Contrast command in Photoshop CS3 may be all you need to add life to dull, flat images, and it doesn’t get much easier than this!

How To Read An Image Histogram In Photoshop

Histograms are one of the most valuable tools we have when editing or restoring images, and knowing how to read a histogram is an essential skill for anyone who’s serious about the quality of their photos. Learn what histograms can tell us about our images and how to use them to easily spot potential problems.

Black & White Adjustment in Photoshop CS3

Tired of having no control when converting your color photos to black and white or being forced to think like a computer? Then you’ll definitely want to check out the Black & White adjustment in Photoshop CS3, a tool so easy and natural, if you can click and drag your mouse, you have all the skills you need!

Non-Destructive Photo Editing With Adjustment Layers In Photoshop

Still using Photoshop’s standard image adjustments to edit your photos? Still causing permanent damage to your images with every edit you make? There’s a better way! Learn how to work non-destructively and with greater flexibility with Photoshop’s Adjustment Layers!

Cropping Photos Without Changing The Aspect Ratio

Cropping photos is one of the most common uses for Photoshop, but what if you want your cropped image to maintain the same aspect ratio as the original? No problem, thanks to a rarely used but very useful command called Transform Selection!

Non-Destructive Dodge and Burn in Photoshop

Photoshop’s Dodge and Burn tools are great for lightening and darkening specific areas of a photo, but they both permanently damage your image. Learn a better way to get the same results without harming a single pixel!

How To Straighten Crooked Photos In Photoshop

Unless you take all your photos with your camera mounted on a tripod, some of them are going to turn out a bit crooked. Fortunately, Photoshop makes it incredibly easy to straighten them in just a few simple steps and without any guess work!

The Luminosity Blend Mode In Photoshop

Learn how to change the brightness of an image without affecting its color using the Luminosity blend mode in Photoshop. Part of our complete series on the five essential blend modes for photo editing.

The Color Blend Mode In Photoshop

Learn how the Color blend mode in Photoshop lets us change the hue and saturation of an image without affecting its brightness. Part of our complete series on the five essential blend modes for photo editing in Photoshop.

The Overlay Blend Mode In Photoshop

Learn how the Overlay blend mode in Photoshop both lightens and darkens an image at the same time to increase contrast. Part of our complete series on Photoshop’s five essential blend modes for photo editing.

The Screen Blend Mode In Photoshop

Learn all about the Screen blend mode in Photoshop and how it instantly lightens an image. Part of our complete series on the five essential blend modes for photo editing in Photoshop.

The Multiply Blend Mode In Photoshop

In this tutorial in our series on Photoshop’s five essential blend modes for photo editing, learn all about the Multiply blend mode and why it’s great for darkening an image.

Top 5 Photoshop Blend Modes You Need To Know

Feeling overwhelmed by Photoshop’s 27 layer blend modes? There’s really only 5 you need to know! Learn the essential Photoshop blend modes – Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Color, and Luminosity – and how to use them to quickly edit and improve your images!

Smooth And Soften Skin In Photoshop

Learn an easy way to smooth and soften someone’s skin in a photo without losing important image details, using a technique normally used for advanced image sharpening!

Enhancing The Sky In An Image With Photoshop

Tired of the sky in your photos being dull, faded and washed out? Learn a simple technique for boosting image contrast, enhancing details in the clouds, and turning those gray skies to blue, all with just a few easy steps!

Changing Hair Color In An Image With Photoshop

Learn how easy it is to color or tint someone’s hair in a photo with Photoshop! Use this technique on photos of other people, or use it on yourself to see what you’d look like with a different hair color, then go back any time you want and change the color again without having to redo all the work!

Easy Digital Nose Job In Photoshop

Let’s face it, sometimes photos don’t do people justice, and a wrong setting on the camera or an unflattering angle can make their nose look bigger than it really is. Fortunately, Photoshop makes digital plastic surgery a breeze without the need for any fancy surgical tools or even a steady hand!