{"id":808965,"date":"2023-10-29T10:26:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T17:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/?p=808965"},"modified":"2025-04-18T12:50:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T19:50:16","slug":"how-to-stunning-photoshop-edits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/how-to-stunning-photoshop-edits\/","title":{"rendered":"The &#8220;double trick&#8221; for stunning Adobe Photoshop edits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Maybe you\u2019ve been using <a title=\"Adobe Photoshop\" href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/tag\/adobe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom<\/a>&nbsp;for a while, or maybe you\u2019re just getting started. There are many ways to do different things with the software, as well as all kinds of tips, tricks, and hacks to do things simply and easily.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>In this tutorial Colin Smith, the creator of <a title=\"Colin Smith PhotoshopCAFE\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@photoshopcafe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PhotoshopCAFE<\/a>, demonstrates how to edit a photo to get the maximum detail out of the sky and the foreground. <\/strong><\/em><em><strong>Check out <a title=\"PhotoshopCAFE video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=POQE1YnveN0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the video below<\/a> for the Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom tutorial, or read on for all of the details.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"The DOUBLE TRICK for stunning Photo edits\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/POQE1YnveN0?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Make adjustments in Lightroom\/Camera Raw<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>If you're not doing it inside of Lightroom or you don't have Lightroom, just go into Adobe Bridge, right click on the image and choose to <strong>Duplicate<\/strong>. Select both images and choose <strong>Open in Camera Raw<\/strong>. Do the same adjustments as below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We first begin in Lightroom. <strong>Duplicate (Ctr\/Cmd+\u2019)<\/strong> the photo, and it will create a copy of the image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Select the copy and go to the <strong>Develop<\/strong> module. What we want to do is bring out the detail here in the original sky. So bring <strong>Highlights to -100<\/strong> and <strong>Exposure to -1.55<\/strong>. Yes, the foreground got dark, but it doesn't matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"618\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-2.jpg\" alt=\"Viv Le Tutorial 1\" class=\"wp-image-808967\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-2.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-2-980x561.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-2-480x275.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now select the original image. Notice the \u201cblooming:\u201d this means that we are losing edge detail because of the brightness. With the original photo selected, bring <strong>Highlights<\/strong> down to <strong>-64<\/strong> so we can see our edges clearly. This also isn\u2019t going to overly affect our foreground. Also lighten <strong>Shadows<\/strong> to <strong>+40<\/strong> to bring out detail in the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now select both images by clicking on the<strong> X|Y<\/strong> button in the <strong>Library<\/strong> module to view them side-by-side. You can see below that the image on the left is exposed so the shadows are lightened. The image on the right is exposed so highlight areas will reveal the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-6.jpg\" alt=\"Viv Le Tutorial 2\" class=\"wp-image-808968\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-6.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-6-980x478.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-6-480x234.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now select both photos, <strong>Right Click &gt; Edit In &gt; Open as Layers<\/strong> in Photoshop. Now Photoshop will launch with these two images as individual layers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Merge photos together in Photoshop<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, we don't want to replace the sky. We want to use the real sky. So with the top image selected, choose <strong>Select &gt; Sky<\/strong> tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There will still be little bits that haven't been selected. So what we want to do is we want to expand this selection a little bit. Go to <strong>Select &gt; Similar<\/strong>. This will select the similar areas inside these little gaps that were missed on the first selection. Now deselect the areas that were incorrectly picked. Choose the <strong>Rectangular Marquee Tool<\/strong>. Select <strong>Subtract<\/strong>. Then drag a selection box over the areas we want removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"516\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-12.jpg\" alt=\"Viv Le Tutorial 3\" class=\"wp-image-808969\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-12.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-12-980x468.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-12-480x229.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now hold down the <strong>Alt\/Option Key<\/strong> and click <strong>Layer Mask<\/strong>. What this does is masks everything <em>opposite<\/em> your current selection. So maybe the background is just a little bit strong. What we're going to do is we're going to select the mask, go to <strong>Properties<\/strong>, see the <strong>Density -- <\/strong>this slider controls the effect of the mask. So we can adjust the amount of the sky that we want and mix it with the layer underneath to make it look more believable. We set it to <strong>73%<\/strong>. Notice the blue in the top right corner of the sky. If we zoom into the original image, that blue is actually from the original sky, but let\u2019s fix it to be gray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"545\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-14.jpg\" alt=\"Viv Le Tutorial 4\" class=\"wp-image-808970\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-14.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-14-980x495.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-14-480x242.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So to make a selection, let's go back to our top layer, make sure we're selecting the layer and not the mask. Now select the <strong>Magic Wand Tool (W)<\/strong>. Set <strong>Tolerance<\/strong> to 30. Check <strong>Anti-alias<\/strong>. Change Sample to <strong>5 by 5 Average<\/strong>. Uncheck <strong>Contiguous<\/strong>. Then click on the blue corner to select it. Now select the mask, choose the<strong> Brush Tool (B)<\/strong>, and make black the foreground color. Then paint over the blue corner of the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don't turn off the selection just yet! Create a <strong>New Layer<\/strong> in between the two layers, and use the <strong>Eyedropper Tool (I)<\/strong> to sample a gray color from the image. Notice how the foreground color will change to be this gray you sampled. Now use the <strong>Brush Tool (B)<\/strong> and paint the blue corner. Deselect by pressing <strong>Ctrl\/Cmd+D<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"568\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-18.jpg\" alt=\"Viv Le Tutorial 5\" class=\"wp-image-808971\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-18.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-18-980x515.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-18-480x252.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Fine-tune color using curves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s create a curve adjustment above the middle layer. The reason we're putting it between our top layer and these layers underneath is because any adjustment we make is going to affect our sky area, and our little corrected patch of gray sky. Play around with the contrast by dragging different parts of the line up and down in the Curves panel. We darkened shadows by dragging the left side of the line down and brightened highlights by dragging a point on the right side up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"561\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-22.jpg\" alt=\"Viv Le Tutorial 6\" class=\"wp-image-808972\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-22.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-22-980x509.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-22-480x249.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To give it more color, say blue, select the <strong>Blue<\/strong> channel from the RGB dropdown menu. Dragging the line will increase blue, dragging down will decrease blue (and make the image more yellow). We increased a bit of blue to the shadows like so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you feel it's still a little fake, go back to our mask and lower the <strong>Density<\/strong>. That\u2019s it! We hope you learned something new here, enjoy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:22px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The final product:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:36px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"595\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-0.jpg\" alt=\"Viv Le Tutorial 7\" class=\"wp-image-808974\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-0.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-0-980x540.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2023\/04\/tut2-0-480x264.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1080px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to use the double photo effect for amazing photo edits &#8211; with Adobe Photoshop expert Colin Smith!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":808975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2338,2552,2336],"tags":[135,587,97,2256],"class_list":["post-808965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","category-learn-photo-editing","category-photography","tag-adobe","tag-colin-smith","tag-photoshop","tag-photoshopcafe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}