So, Wanna know something about Photoshop Quick Fix!?

Double click on the little camera icon on your desktop. Then click on "Quickly Fix Photos." When it opens look at the right side of your screen. If you don't know how to load a picture go here. Once you have a picture loaded, return to this page and continue.

You see “General Fixes?” To the left is an inverted triangle.

That triangle allows you to open and close any individual quick fix area. Like this.

If you click on any given triangle it will close that area. Then your work area is less cluttered. I normally leave them all open. Do what you like best.

See the little yellow light bulb by each quick fix area?

That is the help button. I mostly ignore it in favor of personal exploration. I learn best by exploring. After several years I still click a variety of buttons for each picture because the buttons respond differently in each one.

The help areas are invaluable. But when one is not familiar with either the program or the terminology one will get nowhere fast. That’s the way I am anyway! Thus my preference is to learn by plunking first. If I have to I use the help.

If you click on the light bulb a new window will open containing a help screen. In the quick fix screen it just so happens that no matter which bulb you click the same window opens and you have a help page for all parts of the quick fix screen.

Now, any time you click on something anywhere in Photoshop and you cannot tell what it is doing (There will plenty of those times! :) simply click on the light bulb, or hover over the icon, and read about it, then try again. That is what I have found to be my best policy for use of the help window.

Here is an example of a photo “Quick Fixed” in about a minute.

This is another picture taken with an expensive camera, yet it turned out sorely underexposed. A simple explanation for the underexposure can be found here.

Good thing there's Photoshop Quick Fix Hey!?

I clicked on the “levels” and the “contrast.” This is the result. Doesn’t she look beautiful when she’s all lit up!? I love Photoshop Quick Fix!!

There is a setting on most cameras that allows you to adjust the exposure up or down a little in the program setting you choose. It’s called exposure compensation. The technical term is “exposure value” in case that is what your operator manual calls it. [EV +/-] You should be able to find the adjustment in your camera’s operator’s manual.

If you adjust it up by one 1/3 stop the resultant picture is a little brighter. Down will result in a picture that is a little darker. Adjustments go as high as +/-3 in one third increments. The manuals will use all kinds of confusing terminology to say this exact thing.

When I will be shooting a bunch of pictures in the same lighting I take a few test shots and adjust the exposure [EV] accordingly. What you should look for on your display monitor will come with some experience because the pictures will actually look darker on the camera monitor than they will on your computer screen.

Most of the time post editing takes care of the under or over exposure but there are times the program is just not enough. So I do my best in the field to get the correct exposure. Needless to say it doesn’t always happen that way and I must rely on Photoshop.

If you are going back and forth, indoors to outdoors or even from shade to sun, remember to look at the first couple of shots on your display screen each time you change. This will ensure decent exposure thus less work in post editing and fewer pictures lost to automatic camera compensation.

Be careful when you’re looking at the display in the bright sunlight. It will be very deceiving. It will look dark when it is not.

Smart Fix

In Photoshop Quick Fix, Smart Fix will adjust both the lighting and the color of your picture. It automatically does this when you click on the “auto” icon. If you don’t like the results merely simultaneously click on the “Control” key and the “z” key on your computer’s keyboard. This will reverse the step you just took.

Another option is to hit the reset button above the upper right hand corner of the picture you are working on. This will undo everything.

“Control, z” and “reset” differ. “Control, z” reverses your actions one at a time up to about 20 actions. The “reset” button undoes all your actions in one fell swoop.

Look under the word “Amount” in the smart fix box. Next slide the little blue oval to the right. This will do the same thing as the auto button except it will change things a little at a time. Be careful because it seems to change very quickly.

Red Eye

Click on the auto button. If that does not fix the red eye, look at the left side of the screen. The bottom icon is the red eye removal tool. First zoom in on the eyes a little bit. (Zoom is explained below) Then click on the red eye tool.

Move your mouse to hover the “cross hairs” over the red eye. Then just click. The program does the rest. If Photoshop darkens too big an area, click “control, z” on your keyboard. This will reset it.

Some times you will have to tinker with the tool in order to get acceptable results. Start by zooming in closer and try again. If that doesn’t work I have found that I have to do the best I can without going outside the circle of the eyes, then clone the rest.

Level/contrast

The level button adjusts the contrast in the picture. It may also affect the color which is why the contrast is next. The contrast button affects only the contrast. It does not affect other settings. This is where you will manually fix a picture that is too dark or too light. If the picture is too dark, slide the button beneath “Lighten Shadows”. Do the same under “Darken Highlights” if the picture is too light.

Once you set the desired exposure of the picture slide the contrast back and forth. See whether this improves the overall presentation. Each picture will react differently so experiment to find what you like.

Start by making these adjustments on any picture that is taken too dark or light. This will make a huge difference in the way the picture responds to the other auto fixes. Once you have fixed the exposure go back up to the Smart fix and click on the auto button. Watch the amazing result!

I have saved many a picture by this technique. Go back to the little birdie above. She is a shining example.

Color

Color is fun! You can start by clicking on the auto button again. But don’t stop there. I suggest you play with all the cool slides in this area. They make for really creative pictures. Watch!

Want some more? O.K.

You may not use this every day but it sure is fun to play with once in a while.

SATURATION increases or decreases the amount of color in the picture. That is where I started with the above shots. Then I experimented with the other color changes for the final result. Setting the saturation all the way to the left turns your picture into black and white by removing all the color.

HUE changes the color as you see along the slide. It makes great changes in small quantities. If you want to change the color of a specific object in a picture you can use the magic selection tool (explained below) to separate that object from the rest of the picture. Then proceed to make your changes.

TEMPERATURE will make your overall picture warmer or cooler. More orange in the picture makes it glow warmer. More bluish tint makes the picture glow cooler. Notice how the coolness of sunset looks so inviting. Just makes you want to snuggle up all comfy, cozy don’t it!?

TINT is to make minute, final changes after you set the temperature of the picture. I use it mostly for fun.

Sharpen

Finally is the sharpen quick fix. If you want to slightly sharpen up a picture this will. It will not make a major difference with a blurry picture. If you try to go too far you will see distinct lines in the picture.

You can salvage a slightly blurred picture by using some of the more advanced features in the Full Edit screen. I used the paint feature to create this beautiful water color painting from the original blurred shot.

Zoom

Along the left side of the Quick Fix screen are several more tools. The first is the zoom tool. You can magnify the picture to your liking for doing intricate work.

Click on the icon. If your mouse has a center wheel use it to zoom in and out. If not you can click on the blue arrow where it says “zoom.” Then move the arrow back and forth to set the zoom percentage.

Experiment with the other settings to the right of that. Just click on each one with different pictures in the preview area. The preview area is the biggest picture. The area at the bottom containing the thumbnails is called the “Photo Bin.”

Hand Tool

When you are zoomed in far enough that your picture is too large to fit on the screen, the hand tool allows you to move the picture around so you can see any given area. Just click on the icon, move your mouse over the picture, then click and hold as you move it around.

Magic Selection Tool

This particular tool will take some getting used to. Click on the icon. Then click, draw or scribble on the object you want to separate. Photoshop will automatically pick up on everything in the picture of the same color.

If it highlights more than you want, simply “erase” over what you don’t want changed. The toolbar immediately above the picture you are working on has some more icons for this.

The first one is a reset. It will reset your selections so you can start over.

Next, is the “magic” selections brush. This is the one you use to make your initial selection. Once your initial selection is made you can customize it by clicking on the plus to add more, or clicking on the minus to subtract some from your selection.

If this doesn’t give you exactly what you want you can do it manually with…

The third brush. This is the manual brush. You’ll notice the tools in the toolbar change when you click on it. The double square immediately right of it will allow you to add to your selection as you see fit. The next will subtract. The other settings are to set the size of your brush and softness of the edging.

Click on the arrow next to the squiggly line. That will open a dropdown window to the brushes available. Next to that is the size option. Once you have these set to your preferences you just manually add or erase as you like.

You do this by dragging your mouse over the areas you choose. It’s just like erasing with a pencil eraser. Click back and forth between add and subtract boxes at the left of the squiggly line in the toolbar. If the brush you chose is too big or small, change it. LOTS OF FUN!!!!!

Once you have your desired selection go to the fixes area and have at it. You will be changing just the highlighted area of the picture.

Crop

Underneath the magic selection brush resides the cropping tool. Click on it then move your cursor over a starting point on your picture. Click and keep holding the mouse button down while you move over and down until the picture is cropped about where you want it. Let up. Now you can adjust as you like.

Look in the upper toolbar again. This time you’ll see “aspect ratio.” Click on the arrow at the right of the window. Each size has a meaning. When you have a picture printed the printing machine automatically crops the picture to the ratio of the size it is printing.

Each photo size has a different ratio. In other words, the length of the top and the bottom compared to the length of the sides.

If you crop the picture in Photoshop, according to the size you're going to print your pictures, they will look exactly like you see them on your computer screen. No more getting your pictures back only to discover Aunt Edna’s hair is chopped off.

This gets pretty important after a while. You are becoming an artist and you will want the pictures printed exactly as you have them finished. Photoshop gives you lots of latitude to work with.

One thing to keep in mind. Larger pictures are merely multiples of the three smaller ones I have shown here. For example, the next size up from 8X10 is an 8X12. Well, 8X12 is a mere multiple of a 4X6. So in order to print an 8X12 you crop it in Photoshop at 4X6 ratio.

From 8X10 and up all the generic sizes are mere multiples of 8X10. I.E. 16X20, 24X30 and so on. Most of your pictures will probably not be larger than a 16X20. This information is general in nature. Your camera and developer may vary. Become familiar with the different sizes and you will know how to order.

Redeye

Red Eye is discussed above.

There you have it. Photoshop Quick Fix in a bucket.

Go to Photoshop main page to learn the layout and loading pictures.

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