Photoshop CS6 for Photographers
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Cropping, filling in the gaps, and making final panographic adjustments


Photoshop CS6 for Photographers

with Chris Orwig

Video: Cropping, filling in the gaps, and making final panographic adjustments

After having assembled the panoramic photograph and then corrected some of the perspective issues, what I want to do here is take a look at how we can crop and finish this image off. Let's go ahead and zoom out. You can do so by pressing Command+Minus on a Mac or Ctrl+Minus on Windows. Now, here is what we have to work with. What you want to do is select your Crop tool. You want to go ahead and start to click and drag these points in. And as you do that, ideally you want to have the option set of Unconstrained because when you're creating a panoramic photograph, really it's all about your own perspective.
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  1. 1m 43s
    1. Welcome
    2. Using the exercise files
  2. 11m 49s
    1. Ideas for how to learn Photoshop more effectively
      4m 25s
    2. Isolating what you've learned and taking quality notes
      3m 53s
    3. Getting creative and being ready to be surprised
      3m 31s
  3. 38m 58s
    1. Customizing the Bridge workspace
      4m 46s
    2. Reviewing and evaluating your photos
      4m 22s
    3. Rating, ranking, and filtering photographs
      5m 42s
    4. Organizing photos with stacks
      3m 56s
    5. Grouping pictures together with collections
      3m 56s
    6. Adding metadata and keywords
      4m 47s
    7. Renaming images
      1m 45s
    8. Accessing the Photoshop tools from within Bridge
      2m 28s
    9. Working with Bridge and Photoshop
      2m 40s
    10. Working with Mini Bridge
      4m 36s
  4. 45m 29s
    1. Setting up your color settings
      3m 31s
    2. Choosing preferences for the HUD color picker
      3m 50s
    3. Setting image interpolation preferences
      3m 3s
    4. Modifying zoom preferences
      4m 20s
    5. Changing HUD brush options
      3m 41s
    6. Customizing interface preferences
      3m 30s
    7. Opening up documents in tabs
      4m 11s
    8. Reviewing file-handling preferences
      5m 4s
    9. Setting performance preferences
      4m 23s
    10. Choosing cursor preferences
      5m 14s
    11. Reviewing guides and type preview preferences
      4m 42s
  5. 21m 5s
    1. Exploring two simple steps for more accurate color
      2m 58s
    2. Introducing color profiles
      5m 17s
    3. Opening and saving files with embedded profiles
      7m 33s
    4. Setting up your studio
      1m 59s
    5. A demonstration of monitor calibration
      1m 46s
    6. Finding color management resources
      1m 32s
  6. 28m 35s
    1. Introducing the Tools panel
      4m 53s
    2. Changing the view mode and working with panels
      5m 33s
    3. Opening and arranging multiple documents
      6m 31s
    4. Combining, saving, and closing multiple documents
      5m 17s
    5. Creating custom keyboard shortcuts
      5m 12s
    6. Working with a Wacom tablet
      1m 9s
  7. 18m 24s
    1. The foundation of digital imaging: pixels and bit depth
      6m 12s
    2. Introducing image resizing
      3m 42s
    3. Resizing images effectively
      3m 48s
    4. Resizing and straightening with the Crop tool
      2m 28s
    5. Creative tip: sizing images correctly
      2m 14s
  8. 41m 56s
    1. What is Camera Raw?
      2m 47s
    2. Accessing the Camera Raw preferences
      3m 16s
    3. Improving your images with the basic controls
      7m 0s
    4. Correcting color and white balance
      4m 44s
    5. Processing multiple images at once
      5m 56s
    6. Utilizing the Crop tool to recompose your pictures
      5m 28s
    7. Creating dramatic black-and-white conversions
      5m 34s
    8. Reducing noise and making tack-sharp photos
      7m 11s
  9. 32m 56s
    1. Introducing layers
      2m 23s
    2. Understanding layers and layer transparency
      1m 29s
    3. Working with layer opacity
      3m 29s
    4. Aligning layers
      1m 32s
    5. Creating new layers
      4m 53s
    6. Organizing layers
      2m 31s
    7. Filtering and finding layers
      2m 8s
    8. Adding layer style effects
      5m 28s
    9. Creating a clipping mask
      6m 50s
    10. Targeting and moving layers
      2m 13s
  10. 33m 22s
    1. Making selections with the marquee tools
      4m 50s
    2. Using the three lasso tools
      4m 56s
    3. Selecting with the Magic Wand tool
      5m 43s
    4. Working with the Quick Select tool
      7m 21s
    5. Selecting based on color with the Color Range controls
      7m 13s
    6. Correcting skin tones with Color Range
      3m 19s
  11. 23m 2s
    1. Introducing masking
      1m 14s
    2. Painting away the contents of a layer with a mask
      3m 59s
    3. Using a selection to build a mask
      3m 3s
    4. Removing a subject from the background with a mask
      6m 37s
    5. Using a mask to selectively sharpen an image
      3m 58s
    6. Making selections with Quick Mask
      4m 11s
  12. 13m 42s
    1. Creating a custom border using selections and masks
      5m 4s
    2. Painting custom border effects
      3m 34s
    3. Using prebuilt borders
      4m 13s
    4. Exploring the PhotoFrame plug-in
  13. 11m 49s
    1. Adding brightness and contrast
      3m 3s
    2. Using hue and saturation and the Target Adjustment tool
      5m 34s
    3. Working with vibrancy and saturation
      3m 12s
  14. 14m 36s
    1. Working with auto levels
      3m 36s
    2. Enhancing color and tone with levels
      4m 12s
    3. Painting in adjustments with levels and masking
      4m 10s
    4. Creative tip: checking in
      2m 38s
  15. 29m 50s
    1. Introducing the Curves dialog box
      3m 12s
    2. Using auto curves and adjustments to enhance an image
      4m 17s
    3. Changing brightness with curves and masks
      3m 59s
    4. Using curves and masks to improve tone and color
      4m 56s
    5. Making advanced selections and masks
      3m 53s
    6. Enhancing a portrait with hand-painted masks
      5m 53s
    7. Using, modifying, and saving curves presets
      3m 40s
  16. 20m 13s
    1. Introducing the magic of blend modes
      6m 33s
    2. Blending multiple images together
      3m 51s
    3. Using blending modes to remove white or black
      2m 8s
    4. Improving exposure, contrast, and color with blending
      5m 37s
    5. Using blending shortcuts
      2m 4s
  17. 10m 26s
    1. Working with color correction in Camera Raw
      1m 21s
    2. Correcting color with the eyedroppers
      3m 11s
    3. Correcting color and tone with the eyedroppers
      5m 54s
  18. 36m 1s
    1. Using a Replace Color adjustment
      4m 14s
    2. Using Replace Color, Hue/Saturation, and masks
      5m 32s
    3. Replacing color with advanced masking
      7m 14s
    4. Selecting and modifying color with the Hue/Saturation eyedroppers
      2m 30s
    5. Using Color Balance to create vivid color
      4m 3s
    6. Modifying color with Selective Color
      5m 3s
    7. Changing color with Photo Filter
      4m 4s
    8. Making creative color changes with Color Lookup
      1m 44s
    9. Creative tip: shoot more
      1m 37s
  19. 35m 13s
    1. The modern equivalent of a traditional technique
      1m 40s
    2. Introducing two burn and dodge techniques
      7m 22s
    3. Burning and dodging with the Brush and Gradient tools
      4m 18s
    4. Dodging and reducing shadows in a portrait
      6m 0s
    5. Using selections, masks, and curves to change tonality
      7m 21s
    6. Improving a black-and-white landscape
      8m 32s
  20. 16m 9s
    1. The power of black and white
      4m 14s
    2. Converting a portrait to black and white
      4m 6s
    3. Converting a landscape to black and white
      4m 23s
      3m 26s
  21. 31m 58s
    1. Introducing Smart Filters
      3m 36s
    2. Applying Smart Filters
      6m 20s
    3. Creating a soft contrast effect
      6m 38s
    4. Changing focus with the Blur Gallery
      3m 40s
    5. Working with Tilt-Shift Blur
      3m 53s
    6. Creating a realistic lens flare
      2m 45s
    7. Adding light with the Lighting Effects filter
      5m 6s
  22. 12m 33s
    1. Using the Noise Reduction filter
      3m 46s
    2. Exploring advanced noise reduction using channels
      2m 49s
    3. Masking in noise reduction to a specific area
      2m 1s
    4. Reducing noise with Surface Blur
      3m 57s
  23. 48m 31s
    1. Cleaning before you enhance
      1m 2s
    2. Introducing the healing and cloning tools
      7m 22s
    3. Cleaning up the background of an image
      6m 21s
    4. Basic portrait retouching
      3m 15s
    5. Brightening shadows under the eyes
      4m 54s
    6. Brightening the eyes
      2m 30s
    7. Retouching selected areas
      5m 27s
    8. Using Content-Aware Fill to remove distractions
      5m 34s
    9. Moving a subject with the Content-Aware Move tool
      7m 54s
    10. Changing shape and dimension with Liquify
      4m 12s
  24. 24m 2s
    1. Using the Lens Correction filter
      6m 52s
    2. Reducing exaggerated distortion
      5m 16s
    3. Applying Free Transform to correct perspective
      3m 49s
    4. Correcting distortion with the Perspective Crop tool
      3m 45s
    5. Using Puppet Warp to correct perspective
      4m 20s
  25. 26m 48s
    1. Combining two photos with movement
      4m 12s
    2. Using two frames for a group photo
      4m 57s
    3. Creating a panoramic photo from multiple frames
      3m 37s
    4. Correcting distortion with the Adaptive Wide Angle correction
      7m 34s
      6m 28s
  26. 27m 25s
    1. Working with Smart Sharpen
      6m 17s
    2. Using Unsharpen Mask
      4m 50s
    3. High Pass sharpening an image
      4m 47s
    4. Selectively sharpening the in-focus areas of an image
      3m 35s
    5. Selective sharpening with hand-drawn masks
      7m 56s
  27. 22m 44s
    1. Preparing images for the web and email
      4m 38s
    2. Sharpening for the web
      3m 5s
    3. Using Save for Web to create an optimized JPEG
      4m 26s
    4. Exporting images to Facebook or Flickr
      4m 46s
    5. Creating a web gallery
      5m 49s
  28. 26m 6s
    1. Desktop printing recommendations
      2m 46s
    2. Creating a PDF layout and contact sheets
      5m 56s
    3. Using a soft proof to visualize the print
      8m 0s
    4. Adjusting printer settings
      3m 43s
    5. Customizing the Print dialog box options
      5m 41s
  29. 32m 4s
    1. Opening up a video file in Photoshop
      7m 7s
    2. Editing a video clip and adding text
      5m 15s
    3. Using adjustment layers and adding an audio track
      4m 47s
    4. Creating a project with multiple clips
      4m 55s
    5. Adding a cross-dissolve fade and creating custom shortcuts
      4m 43s
    6. Customizing the workspace to review your project
      3m 2s
    7. Exporting a project
      2m 15s
  30. 3m 4s
    1. Exploring additional resources and ways to keep in touch
      2m 29s
    2. Goodbye


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Watch the Online Video Course Photoshop CS6 for Photographers
12h 20m Beginner Apr 26, 2012

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Topics include:
  • Getting started with Bridge and Mini Bridge
  • Setting up color and performance preferences
  • Calibrating your monitor
  • Improving images with the basic controls in Camera Raw
  • Creating, aligning, and organizing layers
  • Using masks for removing or blending images and for sharpening
  • Working with vibrancy, hue, and saturation controls
  • Enhancing color and tone with Levels
  • Mastering the art of blending modes
  • Correcting and replacing color
  • Burning and dodging
  • Converting to black and white
Chris Orwig

Cropping, filling in the gaps, and making final panographic adjustments


There's nothing which says, a pano needs to be this wide or this tall. So as I bring in these different points, really I am thinking about composition. I can't see that very well here. So I am going to zoom back in by pressing Command+Plus or Ctrl+Plus. And you know sometimes what I like to do when I'm cropping especially really wide photographs is to press the Tab key. The Tab key will hide our panels on our right and left, then we can zoom in even further. Sometimes this can help us move around the photograph and determine if we have a good place or a good placement I should say in regards to the way that we're cropping.

Well here, I really want the focus to be this building in the middle, so I am going to go ahead and just change my crop, and I'm not too worried about these edges, where I have these different gaps. I will just bring my different points in. You can see that, that's a pretty good crop, I will zoom out a little bit here so I can evaluate that. I'm just going to bring again these different points in just a bit here, so that I have a lot of really nice focus on this area of the image. So I want it to be about that part of the courthouse. Okay, well after having modified this just a touch, and I think that looks pretty good, here I'll press the Tab key to bring back all of my panels, the tools panel, the panels on the right.

When you crop, you want to make sure to turn this checkbox off, Delete Cropped Pixels because you may not be sure if this is the perfect crop for you. Okay, well let's apply this. We can do so by pressing Enter or Return. Again, as I mentioned, if this isn't perfect, well what you can do is just go back and reactivate the crop, and you can see that what we can do here is we can change this. We haven't lost the rest of the detail here in the outer edges of the frame. Well here I will press Enter or Return and then I will select my Move tool in order to deactivate the crop, and hide that crop overlay, and I am liking this, I think that this could work.

It tells a nice story about this building and this courtyard. Yet, one of the problems that we have of course is that we have these gaps here, all of this grass is missing, and I have an area of sky which is missing. Well those areas are really easy to fix. You can choose one of your selection tools say like the Magic Wand tool. You can then click on that area where you have transparency in order to make that selection. You can also do this with multiple selections by holding down the Shift key, and clicking on those other areas.

Now, as I do that, you can see I now have three selections. Next, in order to fill those in, we need to first enhance the selection a little bit, by going to Select, and choosing Modify and then Expand. What this will do is it will take our selections, and give us the ability to make those just a little bit bigger, and that's important in order to fill those areas in. So let's click on that option, Select > Modify > Expand, and just expand these a few pixels, maybe even 5 pixels.

That will just push that selection out a little bit. The next step is to fill these in. We can do that by using our Fill command. You can press Shift+F5 or you can go to Edit, and then choose Fill. By selecting this, what we want to do is use what's called Content-Aware. This will analyze the surrounding areas and then fill it in with similar types of content, and ideally, this will work well, but it doesn't always work great the first time. Let's zoom in a little bit. Well down here on the lawn and over here on this wall, it almost looks perfect.

The lawn looks good there on both sides but up in the top, not so much. Well, no big deal. Let's just choose Select and then Deselect. What happened is, is it brought in part of the roof in this area. In that case, because it did such a good job except for these small elements, I am just going to create a new layer, and I am going to fix that area up with cloning or healing. Here I will go to my Clone Stamp tool. And with the Clone Stamp tool, you know how this works, we can Option+Click or Alt+Click on a sampled area, and if we're using all layers, we can clone to this topmost layer.

So I will go ahead and clone over this area. Because this is sky, I don't have to worry too much about the detail or texture anything here. And if I wanted to, I could also go back and try to re-content-aware fill that. Although here, with this image, it looks like these few little spots that needed some help, with the Cloning tool, I think it was a little bit more easy to use. Okay. Well now that we've done that, we have this phenomenal panoramic picture and what's great about that is that we were able to build this from these multiple frames. And even though we had this crazy distortion, we're able to quickly fix that, and then eventually as you saw here, we could crop and fill-in a few areas.

Well, the last thing I want to do with this image is I want to increase the Vibrance and Saturation and also make a slight Curves Adjustment. I will go ahead and click on the icon for creating a Vibrance adjustment layer. We'll click and drag this over to the right and just add a little bit of color saturation. Next, I'll go to my Curves Adjustment, and in Curves, I am going to bring up my whites there a little bit, bring down my blacks, just a really subtle light S-curve, and I will just see if I can modify that a little bit.

What I'm looking for here with this adjustment is just something to give the image a little bit of life. All right! Well now that we've made those final adjustments, let's take a look at the overall progress here with those last few adjustments; here is that before and then after, that looks really good. We can compare this to the original one without the distortion fixed by turning off the visibility of these layers, and turning on the visibility of the underlying layers. Here was the distortion. We then fixed that, patched in a few areas, and then made some final color and tone adjustments, and all of that effort was really worth it.

And if you haven't experimented with creating one of your own panos, I definitely recommend it because creating images like this is both fun and rewarding.

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