were very limited in what we can do here in camera. And I would rather spend our time learning the really powerful retouching stuff. So let's go in and take a look. It would photo shop offers in photo shop we have three main tools will be using. That is the clone stamp tool, the healing brush in the spot healing brush. If you get used to all three of those tools and you truly understand how they work, then you'll be able to tackle most retouching jobs. So in here we have some tourists in Iceland and I would like to remove them from my photograph. I'm gonna go to my tools panel and there I'm going to find this lot right below the eyedropper tool. And that's where I'm gonna find the spot healing brush with the spot healing brush active. I'm gonna use a hard edge brush any time I use a tool that has the word healing attached. I almost always use a hard edge brush. If I use a soft edged brush, then the tool will not have control all the way out to the edge of war. My brushes, because of th...

e soft edge it will force it to fade out. Well, if it's trying to precisely match both the color in the brightness out there on the edge, it won't be able to with that soft brush. So it's only with the heart of brush that it will have full control all the way out to the edge. So I'm just gonna go on top of these people that are here and with a hard edge brush in the spot, healing brush active, I'm gonna click. And before I let go, I'm gonna paint over the entirety of what needs to be removed. And since this one person is in contact is touching the other, I'm gonna paint over them as well. And only when I got the entire thing covered am I gonna release the Mass? But now, because this tool has the word healing in its name, that means it's going to attempt to match both the brightness and the color of whatever is right on the edge of where I've painted. And that's why I did not paint over so far that I would just about be touching the guy to the left if I did extend far enough where I just touched him than it would attempt to try to match it because it would be touching the edge. So let go. And that's not bad, other than this area down here where the walking path got broken. So I'll just click on that area and see if it does an okay job. Often times I need to just get a smaller and smaller brush to get into those tighter areas. Then I'll go to the next person and do that as well, making sure I cover the entirety of it. I don't want to stop halfway. I'll choose, undo just for a moment. If I do stop halfway, let's say it started the top and I worked down like this. Well, now it assumes that it's supposed to match the brightness and color of everything that's right outside of that. So at the bottom, you see black pants, and therefore it thinks it needs to match a black object. Therefore, it might choose to grab some of the rocks that are above into the right to make it look like it's appropriate to, you know, match with those pants. Let's see, well, it extended the pants up at least. And so instead, I want to paint over the entirety of the object, because then what is out there on the edges? What it should end up matching, and it's relatively easy to remove those people now. So far I've been working directly on the layer that contains the original picture. And that's not what I would usually suggest. Because if you mess up and you happen and not notice until you've already closed that image, maybe you noticed it a month later when you're making a big print, while is impossible for me to bring back those people using just the information that's in this file because look in my layers panel, the people just aren't found anywhere. So what I'm gonna do now is Revert this picture that's gonna bring it back to its original version in before I actually do the retouching. I'd go in my layers panel, and I create a brand new empty layer by clicking on the new layer icon. And then when I go to my healing brush, I need to make sure up here in my options bar that this check box right here called Sample all layers is turned on the default setting would have it turned off. So I gotta have that turned on. Otherwise, when it's turned off, it only looks at the layer that's currently active, and that's the only layer it be able to copy from, well, that layers empty. So this tool just would not work whatsoever if that check box wasn't turned on and I was working on an empty layer. But now I can come in here and reach out, touch out the same people, and because I'm working on an empty layer, my results they're not permanent because the original untouched picture can still be found at the bottom of my layers pounds, and therefore all you need to do to see before and after is to turn off the eyeball on that layer to reveal the original picture that's underneath. Turn the I buy back on, and I see my results. And if I hide the layer that's underneath, I can see just the retouching. Now, after you have applied retouching like that, I suggest that you zoom up and you be a little bit critical of it because you'll often find repeated shapes. For instance, here, if you see some yellow flowers right here within kind of a darker mass. That is a blatant copy of this area right here. And so if you end up doing retouching, it can often be obvious if you don't look for those things. And so I'll look for blatant repeat, so get a smaller brush and then I'll try to break them up so it doesn't look like exactly like another area within the image. Also here I see kind of a distinct shape that looks very similar to this one, and I don't always retouch out the one that I've just created. It's a repeat. Sometimes I go back to the original one. Retouch it out instead. What? I try to look for those repeats and see if I can break them up to make them not look quite the same here. This area looks just about identical to that area, so break one of them up, and if it refuses to retouch something out, that's when you tackle the other repeat, and if it still won't do it either connected to together, I don't force them to get rid of it or just switched to a different tool. Pretty much this tool is the one that picks for you, where to copy from and I give it three strikes and then it's out, meaning three tries to fix an area. And if it messes up three times, I switched to a different tool, and the other tool will most likely be a more manual application. But it's gonna be something gives you more control or more influence, at least over the end result. That's more people here, but you can see that just the single tool is often enough to tackle most simple retouching jobs. All our people were gone. That's the spot healing brush in the spot. Healing Brush picks a location on its own to copy from an. Oftentimes, it's a mix of surrounding elements. It's not always a blatant large area. Eso it could do a very nice job, but at the same time it's very common for it to mess up and you have to take control

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Lessons 1 - 6 - Handbook 1: Introduction to Adobe Photoshop

Lessons 7 - 12 - Handbook 2: How to Use Camera Raw

Lessons 13 - 18 - Handbook 3: Making Selections

Lessons 19 - 24 - Handbook 4: Using Layers

Lessons 25 - 30 - Handbook 5: Using Layer Masks

Lessons 31 - 38 - Handbook 6: Using Adjustment Layers

Lessons 39 - 44 - Handbook 7: Color Theory

Lessons 45 - 51 - Handbook 8: Retouching Essentials

Lessons 52 - 59 - Handbook 9: Tools Panel

Lessons 60 - 64 - Handbook 10: Layer Blending Modes

Lessons 65 - 70 - Handbook 11: How to Use Filters

Lessons 71 - 74 - Handbook 12: Advanced Masks

Lessons 75 - 81 - Handbook 13: Using Smart Objects

Lessons 82 - 86 - Handbook 14: Photography for Photoshop

Lessons 87 - 93 - Handbook 15: Advanced Photo Retouching

Lessons 94 - 98 - Handbook 16: Warp, Blend, Liquify

Lessons 99 - 105 - Handbook 17: Advanced Layers

Lessons 106 - 112 - Handbook 18: Actions

Lessons 113 - 117 - Handbook 19: Troubleshooting Issues

Practice Images 1: Introduction to Adobe Photoshop

Practice Images 2: How to Use Camera Raw

Practice Images 3: Making Selections

Practice Images 4: Using Layers

Practice Images 5: Using Layer Masks

Practice Images 6: Using Adjustment Layers

Practice Images 7: Color Theory

Practice Images 8: Retouching Essentials

Practice Images 9: Tools Panel

Practice Images 10: Layer Blending Modes

Practice Images 11: How to Use Filters

Practice Images 12: Advanced Masks

Practice Images 13: Using Smart Objects

Practice Images 14: Photography for Photoshop

Practice Images 15: Advanced Photo Retouching

Practice Images 16: Warp, Blend, Liquify

Practice Images 17: Advanced Layers

Practice Images 18: Actions

Practice Images 19: Troubleshooting Issues

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Ben Willmore

As a photographer, Ben Willmore has shot in all 50 states and explored over 80 countries. He has been pushing Photoshop and Lightroom Classic to their limits since the beginning.

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topics covered in this class

Adobe Photoshop Beginner Fundamentals Photo Editing

Ratings and Reviews

Noel Ice

I am an avid reader of photoshop books, and an avid watcher of photoshop tutorials. I have attended (internet) several hundred of presentations. In the course of this endeavor, I have found my own favorite photoshop websites and instructors. Creative Live is probably the bargain out there as well as among the top three internet course sites. I have to say with great enthusiasm that the best Photoshop instructor is Ben Willmore. There are many great ones, but truly, he is the best I have come across, and, as indicated above, I have watched literally 100s of tutorials on Photoshop. I have seen all of Ben's courses, I think, and among them, this one is the best by far, and that is saying a lot, because that makes this course the best course on Photoshop to be found anywhere. I am going back and watching it twice. Not only is it comprehensive, but Ben is so familiar with his subject that he is able to explain it like no other. This is crème de la crème of Photoshop classes. I have been wanting to write this review for some time because I have been so thoroughly impressed with everything about this class!

ford smith

Highly recommended if you want to take your Photoshop skills to the next level. Ben Willmore is clear, concise, and professional. He also has a good speaking voice that is not distracting but also keeps you engaged. Lastly, I would recommend that as you become more advanced, increasing the speed of the video (one of the options given on the menu)...especially if you've gone through the course once before and maybe want to watch it again. The double speed is very efficient as you become more advanced in Photoshop. Thanks for the help Ben!

a Creativelive Student

Wow. I cannot communicate the value of this course!! The true value in this course is how the instructor identifies workflows you'll need before you'll ever realize it, repeats important information without it becoming annoying, and explains the "why" behind the techniques so well that even if you forget the exact method, you can figure it out via the principles learned. Excellent value, excellent material, excellent instructor!!!

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Retouching with the Spot Healing Brush

Retouching with the Spot Healing Brush

Lesson Info

47. Retouching with the Spot Healing Brush

Lessons

Introduction To Adobe Photoshop

Bridge vs. Lightroom

Tour of Photoshop Interface

Overview of Bridge Workspace

Overview of Lightroom Workspace

Lightroom Preferences - Saving Documents

How To Use Camera Raw in Adobe Photoshop 2020

Overview of Basic Adjustment Sliders

Developing Raw Images

Editing with the Effects and HLS Tabs

How to Save Images

Using the Transform Tool

Making Selections in Adobe Photoshop 2020

Selection Tools

Combining Selection Tools

Using Automated Selection Tools

Quick Mask Mode

Select Menu Essentials

Using Layers in Adobe Photoshop 2020

Align Active Layers

Creating a New Layer

Creating a Clipping Mask

Using Effects on Layers

Using Adjustment Layers

Using the Shape Tool

Create a Layer Mask Using the Selection Tool

Masking Multiple Images Together

Using Layer Masks to Remove People

Using Layer Masks to Replace Sky

Adding Texture to Images

Layering to Create Realistic Depth

Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop 2020

Optimizing Grayscale with Levels

Adjusting Levels with a Histogram

Understanding Curves

Editing an Image Using Curves

Editing with Shadows/Highlights Adjustment

Dodge and Burn Using Quick Mask Mode

Editing with Blending Modes

Color Theory

Curves for Color

Hue and Saturation Adjustments

Isolating Colors Using Hue/Saturation Adjustment

Match Colors Using Numbers

Adjusting Skin Tones

Retouching Essentials In Adobe Camera Raw

Retouching with the Spot Healing Brush

Retouching with the Clone Stamp

Retouching with the Healing Brush

Retouching Using Multiple Retouching Tools

Extending an Edge with Content Aware

Clone Between Documents

Crop Tool

Frame Tool

Eye Dropper and Color Sampler Tools

Paint Brush Tools

History Brush Tool

Eraser and Gradient Tools

Brush Flow and Opacity Settings

Blur and Shape Tools

Dissolve Mode

Multiply Mode

Screen Mode

Hard Light Mode

Hue, Saturation, and Color Modes

Smart Filters

High Pass Filter

Blur Filter

Filter Gallery

Adaptive Wide Angle Filter

Combing Filters and Features

Select and Mask

Manually Select and Mask

Creating a Clean Background