Practical Photoshop

Practical Photoshop is the world’s premier Photoshop magazine, a monthly guide to the best Photoshop techniques, tips and tricks. Inside each issue you’ll find an array of inspirational tutorials and accompanying video lessons that will help you master Adobe’s collection of industry standard photo-editing software. What’s more, there’s a selection of amazing images from the world’s best Photoshop creatives, free downloadable content, and a beginner’s guide to the basics. If you love photography and you want to learn more about digital imaging, then Practical Photoshop will help you to unleash your creative potential.

Welcome to issue 148 of Practical Photoshop! If you enjoy the issue, why not subscribe and get a whole year for just $19.99?

HIGHLIGHTS: WHAT’S INSIDE…

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT FILES

Practical Photoshop

GENERATIVE FILL IS HERE • Adobe’s new Fill command lets you create anything your imagination desires. This is where AI image generation goes mainstream…

DOWNLOAD PHOTOSHOP BETA • At the time of writing, you’ll need this alternative version of Photoshop to access the power of Generative Fill

HOW IT WORKS • Here’s a quick-start guide to Generative Fill

LAUNCH GENERATIVE FILL • The new context-sensitive task bar is the simplest way to access the command

CHECK THE VARIATIONS • The three variations generated by the fill command can be stored and expanded upon

SHAPE YOUR SELECTION • The size and shape of your initial selection plays an important role in the fill

USE AI SELECTIONS • Select Subject can be helpful while isolating parts of your image to fill

ADD OR SUBTRACT DETAILS • Use masks to control precisely which areas are changed when you create a Generative Fill

OVERLAP THE EDGES • Leave a little overlap while selecting areas to allow for gentle transitions between filled and original content

EXPAND YOUR IMAGES • One of the things Generative Fill does best is to expand beyond the original bounds of the image

ADD ACCESSORIES • When you work with portraits, Generative Fill excels at adding sunglasses, hats, jewelry and more

THE PROBLEM WITH HANDS • Generative AI tools are notoriously bad at creating hands – and Adobe’s tool also struggles in this regard

RESTRICTED MATERIAL • Quite rightly, Adobe has designated certain material to be off-limits…

LOW-RES FILLS (FOR NOW) • Your fills will not be as detailed as your high-res images

TIDY UP THE MESSY BITS • Your cloning and masking skills are still important for tidying up messy details

FIX SKEWED COLORS • If the colors look off, you can fix things with a simple Adjustment Layer

EXPAND YOUR PHOTOS • Extending people and animals can be great fun

USE TEXT PROMPTS WELL • There’s a subtle art to typing text prompts in order to get the type of fill you want

EXPLORE PROMPTS MADE BY OTHERS • Get inspiration and prompt ideas from Adobe’s Firefly gallery

DON’T USE ARTIST NAMES • Unlike some other AI image generators, artists’ names will not work in your text prompts

THE GOOD AND BAD…. • Here’s what we think Generative Fill is best at – and what needs work before the full release…

MASTER THE BRILLIANT NEW DENOISE TOOL IN LIGHTROOM • Adobe’s new addition to Lightroom and Camera Raw uses AI to fix noisy images

KICK-ASS SPORTS SHOTS • James Paterson combines long exposures with flash for an eye‑catching slow-speed sync effect

SLOW-SYNC SETUP • Learn how to capture sharp and blurred action with a combination of constant and flash lighting

STEP BY STEP BRING DOWN THE CURTAIN

STEP BY STEP BOOST THE BLUR

TAKE IT FURTHER WITH PANNING BLUR • Use camera movements while shutter-dragging to...