Photoshop: Processing Product Photos

Course details

Processing product shots requires a slightly different set of skills than retouching portraits. But with Photoshop and the techniques shown in this course, you can take raw photos of any product—jewelry or electronics—and turn them into ad-ready images. Follow along with Kevin Stohlmeyer, as he color corrects and retouches photos and then makes them pop off the screen with silhouettes, realistic highlights and shadows, and vibrant color. He also shares a series of Photoshop actions and other automation techniques he uses to speed up his workflow.

Learning objectives
Selecting the right product shot for post-processing
Using a tablet for detail work
Adjusting exposure
Correcting color cast
Removing dust and scratches
Retouching a product shot with the Healing tools
Creating silhouettes with layer masks and clipping paths
Adding shadows and highlights
Replacing product colors
Automating parts of your workflow

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - Using the exercise files

1. Getting Started

03 - Getting started
04 - Starting with the right photograph
05 - Utilizing colored or white backgrounds in Photoshop
06 - Setting up your tablet for detail work

2. Color Correction

07 - Using RGB vs. CMYK color spaces
08 - Using adjustment layers vs. the Adjustment menu
09 - Adjusting exposure in Photoshop
10 - Easy color adjustments using the two-pass method
11 - Removing color casts from backgrounds

3. Retouching

12 - Retouching overview
13 - Setting up your file for nondestructive editing in Photoshop
14 - Using filters to remove dust and scratches
15 - Cleaning up your image with healing tools
16 - Utilizing the Clone Stamp tool to its fullest potential
17 - Understanding the Clone Source panel
18 - Using the Content-Aware Patch and Spot Healing tools

4. Creating Silhouettes

19 - When do you use a mask or a path
20 - Creating an accurate path using the Pen tool
21 - Saving your work path and creating a clipping path
22 - Making an initial selection with selection tools
23 - Cleaning up your selection
24 - Creating a layer mask from a selection

5. Realistic Shadows

25 - How does light affect your product's shadow
26 - Using the original source to create a shadow
27 - Creating your own shadow using brushes
28 - Adding realism to your shadow with filters
29 - Using blending modes to add your shadow to the background

6. Enhancing the Product

30 - Enhancing the product
31 - Adding product labels with vector art
32 - Transforming the label
33 - Adding realistic highlights
34 - Replacing product colors with adjustment layers
35 - Using layer comps for alternative versions

7. Automation

36 - What are ideal files for automation
37 - How to create an action in Photoshop
38 - The batch-automation process
39 - Automating color correction
40 - Automating shadow creation
41 - Automating image sizes for print and the web
42 - Using conditional actions in Photoshop
43 - Outputting your file to multiple formats
44 - Adding metadata using templates in Adobe Bridge
45 - Batch renaming files using Adobe Bridge

Conclusion

46 - Next steps