ADOBE PHOTOSHOP FOR UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHERS- P7: In a matter of a few short years, the underwater digital camera went from a novelty item to the predominant method for taking underwater pictures. Never before has a technology advanced so rapidly. Thanks to digital, though, underwater photography has evolved into a shootto- edit process. | 30 ADOBE PHOTOSHOP FOR UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHERS Facing Page This starfish image had an undetermined color shift so the Image Adjustments Variations menu was selected with the midtone box selected. The Fine-Coarse slider was moved to the right until heavy color correction was apparent. The best color was the yellow so it was selected. The lighter thumbnail was also selected from the right panel of exposure thumbnails. The newly corrected image is in the center and the before-and-after thumbnails are shown at the top. Right New layers that you add to the background image can be transformed in size placement rotation and even formed into a new shape if necessary. If you want to maintain image quality in layers that you reduce in size you should convert them to a Smart Object via Layer Smart Objects Group Into a New Smart Object. If you have a group of images with the same problem simply correct the first image then open and close the Variations menu for each image and the same correction will be applied. O Transform When you select any area in an image or paste a new layer on an image you have the option of transforming the selection or layer. This can be accomplished by going to Edit Transform pressing Ctrl Cmd T or right clicking on the selection or layer. Once the Transform tool is activated handles appear on the selected area so you can scale rotate flip skew distort or create perspective with the selection. You are also able to grab the selection and reposition it on the background. If you want to scale an image and maintain its proportions hold down the shift key and both x and y will increase or decrease TOP TEN EDITING TOOLS 31 proportionally. Make sure you release the mouse button before the Shift key otherwise you will lose the aspect ratio. Keep in mind that with Photoshop versions CS and older reducing the size of the selection or layer will alter the object size . reduce the total number of pixels . If you decide to enlarge it later the quality of the
