I am proud to announce that Robert O’Toole’s first of the series Advanced Photoshop Tips and Techniques Simplified (APTATS-1) PDF (available only on CD) is now available.   We will begin shipping the CDs on Tuesday.  

Well more than two thousand folks have cut their digital and Photoshop teeth on our Digital Basics file, and I am certainly proud of everything that I have learned (most of it with the help of others), proud of all the folks who have learned to optimize their images quickly and efficiently thanks to Digital Basics, and even more proud of how my images look.   When I watch Robert O'Toole sit down to work on his images, however, I feel totally inept.  Robert is simply amazing when he performs his Photoshop magic.  Robert’s Quick Mask techniques will let you work faster and more efficiently.  If you regularly use either the Clone tool or the Patch tool, learning to use Quick Masks instead will totally change the way you do things and approach difficult problems.  On the APTATS-1 CD you will find the following: an introductory (MS Word) letter, five before images and five finished images, and the five corresponding how-to files.  Both Robert and I worked very hard to produce a guide that can be understood and followed by pretty much anyone.  The guide includes an almost countless number of screen captures to ensure that you do not stray from the path of success.  In addition, there are—right in the text—before, during (many, as needed…), and after versions of the image that you are working on. 

The five topics covered in APTATS-1 are:

1: Quick Mask Object Removal

2: Eye realignment and Repair

3: Restoring Highlight Detail

4: Clipped Feather Tip Repair

5: Clipped Wing Repair (with Exposure Adjustment)

With a bit of practice, using the techniques will become second nature.  Once you learn the basics of using Quick Masks, you will find yourself using them for many tasks that are not specifically covered in the PDF.

You can order your APTATS-1 PDF (on CD only today for $23 incl. shipping and handling in the US.  Florida residents need to add 7% sales tax:  $24.40 incl. shipping and handling.  To Canada the cost is $26 incl. shipping.   For overseas customers the cost will be $28 incl. shipping and handling.  APTATS-1 is being shipped in its final form; it will not be updated.

As is usual Paypal is quite convenient.  Be sure to include your ship-to address.   You can call us at 863-692-0906 with credit card in hand, or send a check for the correct amount made out to “Arthur Morris” to us as follows: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, 4041 Granada Drive, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855.

Black Skimmer flapping after bath, Fort DeSoto, FL

Image Copyright 2007:  Robert O’Toole

Here, Robert used the Quick Mask Object Removal techniques that he developed to remove the two distracting foreground birds quickly and easily.