Avoid the 3 worst Photoshop photo editing mistakes

Colin Smith from Photoshop Cafe shares essential tips to help you avoid the three most common Photoshop photo editing mistakes. These mistakes can make your edits look amateurish, but with Colin's guidance, you'll learn how to sidestep them and enhance your editing skills.

The first mistake is over-sharpening, which Colin calls the "Sizzle Sharpen." This occurs when the halos around edges become too prominent, making the image look unrealistic. To avoid this, Colin advises converting your layer to a smart object and adjusting the Unsharp Mask settings carefully. He also recommends changing the blend mode to darken to hide the white halos.

The second mistake involves using the Saturation slider excessively, resulting in an overly saturated and unrealistic image. Instead, Colin suggests using the Vibrance slider in the Camera Raw filter. Vibrance adjusts the saturation of less saturated areas more than already saturated areas, preserving the details and achieving a more balanced look.

The third mistake is using low-resolution images in composites, leading to mismatched resolutions and a lack of sharpness. Colin demonstrates how to use Adobe Bridge and Camera Raw's super resolution feature to enhance the resolution of your images before combining them. This ensures that all elements in your composite have matching resolutions and appear crisp and clear.

By following Colin's advice, you'll be able to avoid these common pitfalls and achieve professional-looking results in your Photoshop edits. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced user, these tips will help you refine your skills and produce better-quality images.

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