articles/Photoshop/photoshop7slicingtop-page2
by Mike McNamee Published 01/08/2002
As with the Healing Tool the magical dissolving takes place to blend everything together. You may also set up a Pattern to provide the healing pixels, useful for bushes, trees and the like in repair jobs. You can also go and get some pattern making material such as grass from another file if you choose.
The Liquify Tool - Digital Liposuction!
Like the Healing Brush this one can earn the photographer a lot of friends (and perhaps a lot of money!). Making a subject look slimmer or thinner is a technique that skilled lighting technicians have employed for many decades. The Liquify Tool is the digital-age version of this skill, but it's a bit easier to learn and can perform greater tricks than light alone. In our screen grab we have slimmed a model from the Digital Vision "Body" CD just a little (not that she needed it). This was done by "pushing" the body line away with a reasonably large brush. It takes a couple of minutes to get the hang of it but the example shown was our effort after two attempts in about 5 minutes. The "Reconstruct" button allows you to go again and we found that the process was easier to control using a Wacom Pen rather than a mouse
If you get the opportunity try this test. Ask a client to pick from two near identical shots in which one has been quite subtly slimmed.
Our bet is that they will go for the slimmer one unless they are already a good trim shape.
Having got the client interested in this flattering image it is going to be a whole lot easier to sell them a big print and this is going to pay for the upgrade in one go - voila! The Liquify Tool is not new to Photoshop 7 but it has been improved with multiple undo and in particular the ability to save the "mesh" that you have generated during your brushing of the tool. This opens the possibility of working on a smaller file (a lot faster) and then applying the mesh, at leisure , to the full resolution file.
BRUSH EFFECTS MASTHEAD: Chinese "brushed" lettering using the Brush Effects to stylise the paths from Illustrator. ABOVE LEFT: The Rough Chalk Brush used to distress the edges of an image. LEFT: One of the hidden gems of 7 - you can sample colours from other applications open on the Desktop - designers will love this one! EXTREME LEFT & FRONT COVER: An image to show off the capabilities of Photoshop. Made from 5 pictures, dozens of screen grabs, nearly 50 layers,several visits to Illustrator and loads of patience from model, Katie.
Picture Package
The Picture Package function is not a new one, it has however been revamped with an important upgrade. You may now have a multitude of different images set upon the page. Initially you select the first file for the starting image and then click on an individual instance in the built up page, which brings back the Explorer Window so you can choose another image. You can repeat this for the whole set. You can also make your own Layout, the instructions are in the Layouts Folder as a txt file.
Brushes
The Brushes Palette has been separated out and little wonder - it is now almost like a program on its own. There are a vast number of effects taken from traditional media such as watercolour and pastel. In addition you can also paint grass right onto the page. It is not possible to do justice to the power that has been made available in a short review such as this; we could probably fill the whole issue with tricks and dodges. By way of example we applied the WaterColour Filter to an image of Zaragona Cathedral and then nibbled away the edges using the Rough Dry WaterColour brush. Hardly ground-breaking art but you can see the possibilities!
CONCLUSION
This is a "must have" for the social photographer. Aside from the concerns of the Colour Theorists (which centre on the translation to CMYK for plate and computer to plate separations) this is a good value upgrade. Hopefully we will be able to report further on the strength of the new brush tool in due course.
Photoshop 7 costs around £450, the upgrade costs around £105.
Adobe can be visited at www.adobe.com
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