Photoshop Image Retouching tools
Both Photoshop
and ImageReady provide you with several tools and commands for retouching images.The
tools are the rubber stamp tool, the smudge tool, the blur and sharpen tools,
and the dodge, burn, and sponge tools.
Rubber
stamp tool 
& Pattern stamp tool 
:
Using rubber
stamp tool, you can remove an object or area by 'cloning' an area
of the image over the area you want to eliminate.
Fig1 |
Fig2 |
1) Select the rubber
stamp tool. (click here to see the settings of its option
palette)
2) Position the pointer on the part of the image you want to sample, and Alt-click
(FIg1). This sample point is the location from which the image is duplicated
as you paint.
3) Drag the tool over the area you want to paint over with a copy of the image
you just sampled.Notice the cross hair that follows your cursor as you paint.
It represents the point from which the rubber stamp tool is cloning.
The
pattern stamp tool paints with the selection as
a pattern.
Fig3 |
Fig4 |
1) Use the rectangle
marquee tool ( 
)
on any open image to select an area to use as a pattern (fig3).
2) Then choose Edit > Define Pattern.
3)Reselect the pattern stamp tool. (Click here to see the
settings of its option palette).
4) Drag the tool over the area you want to paint.
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Options
palette
| Double-click
the rubber stamp tool or pattern stamp tool to display its Options palette.
|
 |
Specify the
blending mode and opacity.
If you are using
the rubber stamp tool, select Use All Layers to sample data from all visible
layers. If left deselected, the tool samples only from the active layer.
Do one of the
following:
1)
With the rubber stamp tool, select Aligned to apply the entire sampled area
once, regardless of how many times you stop and resume painting. This option
is useful when you want to use different sized brushes to paint an image. You
can also use the Aligned option to duplicate two halves of a single image and
place them at different locations.
2) With the rubber stamp tool, deselect Aligned
to apply the sampled area from the initial sampling point each time you stop
and resume painting. Because the rubber stamp tool samples the entire image,
this option is useful for applying multiple copies of the same part of an image
to different images.
3) With the pattern stamp tool, select Aligned
to repeat the pattern as contiguous, uniform tiles, even when you stop and resume
painting in different parts of the image.
4) With the pattern stamp tool, deselect Aligned
to center the pattern on the pointer each time you stop and resume painting.
If you are using
a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet, select Size to change the brush size with
changes in stylus pressure, Opacity to change the opacity.
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The
smudge tool 
| The
smudge tool simulates the actions of dragging a finger through wet paint.
The tool picks up color where the stroke begins and pushes it in the direction
you drag. |
Fig5 (Original) |
Fig6(After smudging) |
 |
Double-click
the smudge tool to display its Options palette. |
Specify the blending
mode and pressure.
Select Finger Painting to smudge using the foreground color at the beginning
of each stroke. If you leave this option deselected, the smudge tool uses the
color under the pointer at the beginning of each stroke.
Select Use All Layers to smudge using color data from all visible layers.
If deselected, the smudge tool uses colors only from the active layer.
If you are using a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet, choose Size to have
increased pressure create a bigger brush stroke or choose pressure to have increased
pressure make the paint more opaque or more intense.
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The
blur 
or sharpen
tool 
| The
blur tool softens hard edges or areas in an image to reduce detail. The
sharpen tool focuses soft edges to increase clarity or focus. |
Fig8 (Blurring) |
Fig9(Sharpening) |
Double-click
the blur tool or sharpen tool to display its Options palette.
Specify the blending mode and pressure.
To blur or sharpen using data from all visible layers, select Use All Layers.
If deselected, the blur or sharpen tool uses data only from the active layer.
If you are using
a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet,select Size to change the brush size with
changes in stylus pressure, Opacity to change the opacity.
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The
dodge 
or burn 
| The
dodge tool and the burn tool are used to lighten or darken areas of the
image. Select the tool drag over the part of the image you want to modify.
|
Fig8 (dodging) |
Fig9(burning) |
 |
Double-click the tool to display its Options palette. |
Select what to
change in the image:
1)
Midtones to change only the middle range of grays in the image.
2) Shadows to change the dark portions of the image.
3) Highlights to change only the light pixels.
Specify the
exposure for the dodge tool and burn tool.For a weak effect, specify a low percentage
value; for a strong effect, specify a high value.
If you are using
a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet, choose Size to have increased pressure
create a bigger brush stroke or choose Exposure to have increased pressure make
the paint more opaque or more intense.
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The
sponge tool 
|
In Grayscale mode, the sponge tool increases or decreases contrast by moving
gray levels away from or toward the middle gray. Select the tool drag over
the part of the image you want to modify. |
Fig10 (desaturate) |
Fig1(saturate) |
Double-click
the tool to display its Options palette.
Select Saturate
to intensify the colors saturation or Desaturate to dilute the colors saturation.
Specify the the
pressure for the sponge tool. For a weak effect, specify a low percentage value;
for a strong effect, specify a high value.
If you are using
a pressure-sensitive drawing tablet, choose Size to have increased pressure
create a bigger brush stroke or choose pressure to have increased pressure make
the paint more opaque or more intense.
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